Big Brother
by CondorReaper
Summary: "That's what he is, essentially. Just with a few surprises is all." Subject J-4UN, or better known as Jaune, and his self-proclaimed sister Violet are thrust from a world underwater to one of bloody evolution. Together, and only together, they will find victory. Apart, and the world will suffer. (Jaune is a Big Daddy from BioShock, and Violet is an older Little Sister.)
1. Chapter 1

Within the first few seconds of his cognitive life, a few things became extremely apparent.

It was dark.

And it hurt.

He could feel nerves trailing from the tips of his fingers to the rest of his body alight with pain, threatening to burn through his skin.

Skin that felt a lot thicker than he remembered being normal.

His vision was surprisingly good, only blurred from the searing pain traveling through his body. He could make out figures in white suits panicking as his movements became erratic, the… drill? The drill that was his right hand whirring at high speeds, and his other hand swiping randomly, eventually catching a person by the head. His gloved hand engulfed the entirety of their head, and they gripped his wrist in a futile effort to force him to release his head.

"Subject J-4UN, release Doctor Farkley, would you kindly."

His hand released the now named Doctor Farkley, and the man scrambled to his feet and out of the room. Left alone with naught but another person, Subject J-4UN focused on the glass panel far above, from which the order came, and tried to peer into the dark depths of the room behind it. He could only make out the silhouette of a man in a lab coat.

Embroidered upon which was a pair of golden arcs that gleamed in the light of the room.

"Return to your station, would you kindly."

In his daze, he had moved away from the pod he had awakened in, and against what little will he could muster, he steadily made his way back to whence he came, each footfall echoing as they clanged loudly against the metal floor.

He could feel himself losing consciousness as they lab-coated figures cautiously filled the room, just catching a the word "bonding" before he was gone.

* * *

The second time he came to consciousness, it was significantly less painful.

His left hand no longer burned in agony, but instead dully ached in a way he could easily ignore. He flexed the appendage, taking note of just how large it, and likewise he was. The drill that made up his other hand spun slowly, rotating on its axis as he-

"Step out of your sleeping chamber, would you kindly."

His right hand stopped, and he could only watch from a first person perspective as he stepped forward, his legs made up of the same rubbery material as his arms and ending in heavy, metal boots that thudded with the weight of that who wore them. He stood tall, towering over the blonde scientist that stood before him. Said scientist didn't even flinch when he J-4UN stood up, instead only grinning as he watched the yellow lights on the massive dome of a helmet turn green.

"Go to the testing chamber, would you kindly."

Following a path he'd never seen before, J-4UN walked along the large metal corridor; the ceiling being made up of a thick glass window that was reinforced by metallic bars. Through the panes he caught glimpses of the rest of the facility, and though it was small in area, the glass domes that separated the outside from what looked like the ocean gave it a majestic look and oppressive feel.

His feet guided him to a pair of clean double doors that slid open without so much as a whisper. He stomped into the doorway but proceeded no further.

For inside the room was a group of five young girls, who were laughing and playing with something in the far back.

Said something was an inch or two shorter than J-4UN, though its form was lithe compared to his large and bulky frame. It's features seemed slightly feminine, and a basket on its back was decorated in flowers and little bows and ribbon. It had a divers helmet and suit much smaller than his, and though its lights were glowing a bright green as it played with the girls, the massive needle on its right arm worried him greatly.

It looked up at the intruder, and its lights took a yellow tone as it tried to put itself between him and the girls. J-4UN could feel himself grow tense, and if the yellow glow on the borders of his vision, he did the same.

"J-4UN, Olive, stand down would you kindly. There's a gift for the girls in the cage on your back, J-4UN."

Both of the behemoths' lights turned green and Olive stepped to the side, though J-4UN reached back and retrieved something from the cage on his lower back, though not without much effort.

In his hand was a small teddy bear plushie.

A massive wave of emotion flooded him, and he glanced from the plush to the girls in the back who eyed his warily. He stepped forward slowly, making his footsteps as soft as possible as he did. The girls all moved towards him just as warily, but soon enough they were within a yard of one another.

J-4UN knelt down, holding the plush in his hand. As it sagged slightly under its own weight, he held it out and offered it towards the group of girls. They slowly approached the offering, but they were satisfied once it was clear he wouldn't move. One of the braver ones tentatively reached out and snatched the plush from the gloved hand, whose metal fingers dwarfed the girls own.

She took a few steps back, holding the bear at arm's length as she looked it up and down. J-4UN lowered his hand, letting it hang limp from his side as he watched the events unfold.

It was naught but a few moments before she held the bear to her chest, squeezing it tight and rocking it to and fro. Her eyes were screwed shut as well, though her smile could not have been any brighter. She had her moment, and once her eyes opened, she looked at J-4UN's towering form with a gaze filled with awe and admiration. The others sagged at the shoulders from relieved tension, and they returned to playing with Olive who entertained their every whim.

J-4UN held out his hand once more, and the girl who stayed clambered up his arm and onto his shoulders, giggling as she did so. J-4UN was finally able to get a good look at her and her attire. Her body was thin and seemed rather frail, and her thin, pale skin revealed veins that seemed to glow. Scars in the crook of her elbows seemed reminiscent of those that form due to the repeated insertion of needles, and her hair was a thin, wispy blonde that framed a pale, sickly face.

Her eyes, lacking pupils, glowed an earthly yellow.

J-4UN's musing about her appearance was interrupted by the girl in question, who had deemed it necessary to hang above the porthole he viewed the world through. Her grin was large, revealing slightly yellowed teeth, and her yellow sundress that had dulled with time hung down as well.

"Hi Jaune, I'm Violet, though the others call me Vi." The now identified Violet spoke, her grin never leaving her face as she swayed slightly from the newly named Jaune tilting his head. She righted herself into a position that rested both of her legs onto his left shoulder, said appendages kicking slightly. Jaune stood up and began to walk around the room, the other inhabitants distracted with their merriment.

"Yeah, I'm gonna call you Jaune cause if you write out your 'real name'," she made air quotes to emphasize that last phrase, "then you get something that looks kinda like Jaune. Look, I'll show you!" She leaned in front of Jaune once more and fogged the glass of his porthole with her breath. Then, she traced out the name NU4-J on the surface of the glass. He put the symbols into his mind, flipping and picturing what she could mean, and nodded once he realized that yes, it looked like Jaune.

So he nodded in agreement, swaying her to and fro in the process, though it was much to her joy based off of her shrieks of laughter. For some reason, it brought him joy as well.

* * *

Jaune snapped awake at the sound of a scream.

He launched himself from his sleeping pod, his drill of a right hand already spinning as fast as it could. With speed unbefitting of his massive frame, he tore through the winding hallways of groaning steel, through doors, walls, and even an unlucky scientist who seemed very familiar. Perhaps it was that Farkley fellow.

Speaking of which, it seemed that the lab-coated men and women of the site were in a frenzy themselves, yelling, running, and overall panicking over something.

Another shriek, and his pace doubled.

This shriek was met of a mechanical yell from him; instinctual and primal in nature as it echoed throughout the building. It was met with a similar call, though higher in pitch.

It seemed Olive was also on a warpath.

Paying it no heed, he continued his charge until he eventually came to a massive wall of glass that allowed an overhead view of the room Violet and her sisters slept.

Violet was tied down, and massive syringes hooked up to even larger machines stuck out of her from seemingly every possible angle, though congregating at her wrist, elbow, and thigh. The doctor with the double arcs was down there as well, seeming to be in some sort of maniac frenzy if the froth at the corner of his lips were anything to go by. Nevertheless, he seemed to be the one managing the machines.

That was all Jaune needed to know.

He took a step back, and with his spinning drill leading the way, he crashed through the glass and onto the floor. The mad doctor looked up in a frenzy, his hands never ceasing from their frantic dance across the interface of the machines.

"J-4UN, return to your fucking sleeping pod, would you kindly!" He snapped, the glasses decorating his nose slipping down and off of his face and revealing azure eyes whose pupils had shrunk to pinpricks. The blonde hair atop his head was scraggly and wild, and his coat was wrinkled and torn.

J-4UN could feel the haze descend on his mind, he could feel every fiber of his being prepare to follow the command, but a whimper from Violet cleared his head.

Jaune took a heavy step forward.

That set the doctor off. "J-4UN, cease your progress and return to your pod, would you kindly!" Anger was laced into every word, and his hands had left the interface, leaving the machine to rescind into the ceiling where it was hidden once before.

Jaune took another step forward.

"J-4UN, the facility is collapsing and there is no time! Would you kindly step off!" The doctor yelled, his hands now flailing in his madness, though the barest hints of fear was creeping into his eyes.

Jaune took another step forward.

The fear exploded, overriding the raving frustration and anger that existed once before. The doctor took a step back, his heel crunching the glasses underfoot, and his arms came up in an attempt to form some sort of defense.

A massive spike impaled him, and his eyes nearly bulged from their sockets.

A twisting portal of purple crackled behind him, and extending from it was a lithe arm that ended in a massive needle. The body it was attached to stepped out of the vortex, revealing itself to be Olive. The doctor cast a furtive glance at the new arrival, but his attention was snapped to Jaune once more by the behemoth's massive gloved hand.

"J-4UN, return… to your sleeping pod… would you kindly?" It was weak, and blood pooled at the corners of his lips. His eyes were bloodshot, and tears gathered in the ocean blue pools.

"I… am not… Subject J-... 4UN any longer… doctor." The behemoth before the doctor spoke, his hand twisting the head of the man to the side.

"I am… Jaune."

With that, Jaune viciously snapped the man's head to the other side, and the man sagged under his own weight.

Olive dropped him like the garbage he was, and slowly lifted the forms of the other four girls from their pens without waking them. She gently lowered two of them into the cage on her back, seething at the way they whimpered and clung to one another in fear. She then tucked the other two under her arms, and with a final nod towards Jaune, stepped through the portal once more, and it winked shut behind her.

Jaune had no time to relax however, as the sirens once silent now blared their screeching tune. He hurriedly picked up the form of Violet, who seemed to have grown even paler from the extractions, and placed her inside the cage on his back.

He raced down the hallways once more, whose metal walls only echoed with the sound of both the siren and his footsteps. He crashed into another room, this one a massive hanger of sorts filled with naught but a single pod. He wanted to weigh his options, but he lacked both the capacity and the time to do so, and placed Violet as gently as he could into the vehicle.

Closing the pod, he lifted the device over head and raced to the hole in the floor just as the facility shuddered. He waded out into the water, guiding the vehicle before him as he did so.

Slowly, he forced it out into the open ocean, and held on tight as it began to float to the surface. It was slow going, but they were going to be alright.

They were safe for now, and that was all Jaune needed.


	2. Chapter 2

The surface of the water bubbled and boiled, until finally the dull silver of the pod breached. It bobbed up and down as it righted itself, revealing the tinted glass top. Just to the side, Jaune surfaced as well, his rumbling metallic breaths keeping a steady pace.

No rest for the wicked though.

A stretch of beach could be spotted on the horizon, and so he shoved the pod forward with the waves. A noise could be heard emanating from within the confines of the container he was pushing, and so he stopped. After much rustling and rattling, the glass retreated into the frame of the pod and Violet emerged from its depths, panting slightly as she wiped the matted hair from her forehead.

Nevertheless, she was smiling.

It was a bright, beautiful smile that lit up the area around it, even if her teeth were slightly yellowed. His view gained a greenish tint as he leaned over the edge and helped wipe her hair from her face with his thumb. He was scarcely able to do so, as she quickly hugged it to her torso and rubbed her face along its cool, ruddy metal.

"I can't believe it! The sky is blue! The water is cold and salty and stuff, and the air!" She threw her hands up, and Jaune swiftly moved his hand to catch her. She fell into it with a small oomph, but still she kept smiling. "It moves! Through my hair and fingers and stuff. It's nice!" She sighed as she climbed back down and laid on the plush seats of the pod.

Jaune was happy for her. Even if he could not personally feel the breeze that swept at her hair, and he was numb to the water's temperature, her descriptions made him imagine the feelings as if they were his own. So he continued to push the vessel forward.

That is, until he was interrupted by the sniffles of Violet as she buried her face in her now crossed arms, which rested atop her faded yellow sundress.

The green tint in his vision faded into a soft yellow, and he slowed his movement to a halt. Slowly, her reached over the side once more, rubbing small circles into her back.

Well, as small a circle as his massive fingers could.

Nevertheless, she latched onto the appendage and really began to cry. Her form was wracked with sobs, shaking with each and every wail. He offered a silent compassion that she held on to as best as she could.

"Olive… the others… th-they're all-" Her sobs interrupted her speech, and it devolved into wails before she could finish her sentence. Though, it didn't take a genius to figure out where her line of thought was headed.

While he continued to rub circles into her back, his drill of a right hand hooked onto the lip of the pod and began to slowly rock it back and forth. They remained like this for what could have been hours, until finally she cried herself to sleep.

He resumed pushing the pod, the process of which grew easier as the hours passed and the waves grew in strength. Likewise, the sun dutifully crossed the sky, slowly approaching the horizon and casting a warm, golden glow across the water and sandy beach.

They touched shore just as the sun touched the horizon.

* * *

It was late at night when Violet began to whimper in her sleep.

Jaune's portholes flickered on and into a yellow tone and he staggered over to the pod where she slept. He kicked up a large amount of sand, the particles being caught and carried by the midnight wind. Nevertheless, he reached the edge of the vessel and peaked inside.

Violet was curled in the fetal position, her hands grasping the sides of her head and her bear stuffed away in the corner of the pod.

He stuck out his massive index finger and brushed her cheek with its cool metal surface. Her whimpers quieted as her eyes flickered open, her irises and pupils fading in and out of sight as her eyes glowed with power.

Startled, yet determined, he slowly began to rock the machine once more as she took comfort from hugging his index finger. Still, he wanted to do something for the young girl.

So he sang.

His vocabulary was limited, in fact, basic speech wasn't a possibility to him, barring key circumstances. So, to put it more accurately…

He hummed.

The tune was distorted by a metallic filter, and every crescendo rumbled the earth with its baritone vibrations. The tune itself though, was one he never recalled hearing.

The "Good Doctor" never hummed and certainly never sang. The other doctors were never musically inclined either, yet still the tune came to him. It built in both volume and pitch as it played. It waxed and waned at parts, coming to a head in what felt like mid sentence, then eased back and out of the scope of hearing.

Nevertheless, the tone was soothing, in a manner. At least to Violet, whose eyes had cleared and stabilized in their appearance, with the deep blue of the ocean she was born beneath shining with unshed tears.

She raised her arms, and he raised her up and onto the sands that had cooled in the night air. He then turned to the pod beside them and drilled a small hole into its hull, making sure to grab the bear plush from its depths before doing so. Then he pushed it through the sand and out into the water from whence it came, and both he and Violet watched as it drifted out to the horizon.

He placed the bear in Violet's waiting arms, and with it she climbed into her basket on his back. Many of the decorations had fallen off during the ascent and consequent swim to shore, but the bow with her name was still tightly secured to its thin bars. She snuggled into the soft leather bottom of the cage, and once comfortable, she hummed back to Jaune.

That same, nameless tune of hope.

* * *

The forest was silent to those who didn't know how to listen. The average person was deaf to the true nature of the forest. The birds that chirped every so often. The rustling of leaves as a slight breeze disturbed the verdant canopies. The marching of insects along the crags of tree bark.

A normal person couldn't fathom just how deaf they were to the forest.

A normal person Qrow was not.

He was a seasoned huntsman, one of the few that dared to tread on once sacred ground since desecrated by countless Grimm. He blurred the line between reality and fantasy with skills that would stupify even the most liberal of physicist.

At least, one blind in the ways of Aura.

Aura is the manifestation of a human or faunus soul projected outwards in a protective shroud. It could both bolster the defenses of the wielder and sharpen even the dullest of blades. Basic concepts that could be mastered with time and training.

Its true power comes in the form of a Semblance.

Semblances are unique abilities that normally reflect the personality of the wielder, or is otherwise hereditary. It grows in power parallel to the wielders Aura, and both grow like a muscle. They must be worn down and allowed time to heal repeatedly, each time growing back with more power and more utility.

So, Qrow, having been a Huntsman for over a couple decades, possessed a decidedly large amount of Aura, and his Semblance would also be decidedly powerful. Add this to years of training, and twice as many years of experience, and you have a powerful man who rubbed shoulders with the monsters that went bump in the night.

"I'm hungry."

Despite all this, the voice of a little girl was a major shocker for the wizened huntsman, especially since he was a long ways from any sort of civilization.

The low, rumbling groan of a creaking hull that responded was also very unsettling.

He crouched low, his red cape billowing slightly in the breeze as he did so. Blood red eyes peered through the bushes his lithe form was hidden behind thickets and underbrush.

He nearly jumped when a massive, metal booted foot slammed just in front of his nose. He watched as the _thing_ it was connected to continued to stomp through the underbrush. A loud moan low in pitch emanated from its hulking frame and echoed throughout the forest, silencing the once thriving woods.

"But Jaune, I'm hungry now!" The voice of the young girl whined once more, putting emphasis on both the behemoth's name and the last syllable of the sentence. Another groan that sounded like a sigh, and it picked up the pace, each thundering step crunching more leaves and plants underfoot. The girl cheered and shouted as he did so.

The behemoth stomped off and into the distance leaving a bewildered Qrow behind.

No hunter worth his salt would let themselves get swept up in confusion though, and neither would he. He slipped like oil around trees and rocks, disturbing nothing yet seeing everything. In fact, it seemed like the only way to perform such feats of acrobatics and dexterity,

One would need to fly.

* * *

Night had long since descended upon the forest, casting it and all of its inhabitants in darkness.

It was from this darkness that a set of ten portholes glowing a menacing yellow peered into its depths.

Violet was curled up beside the embers that was once a fire, snuggling the plush he had given her oh so long ago. He reached out and pushed the hair that had fallen over her face up and behind her ear, eliciting an unconscious smile from the girl.

From his little sister.

He let out a low groan that shook the ground slightly, but his portholes were green. They faded to a dull yellow as he focused on her features once more, and his fist clenched and tore a clump of grass from the earth, holding the vegetation in his hand. He watched as they fell from between his fingers, drifting slowly back to the earth from whence it came.

"Hey."

Jaune's gaze snapped up and to the figure sitting beside Violet. His pale hand stroked her scalp gently, and the other slicked back his black hair at the newfound attention. A flask rested on the ground beside a massive, metal contraption that had a bladed edge, and a red handle.

"Nice night, don't you think?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry this one is late, bronchitis + influenza = a shitty week. Hope this chapter answers some questions, and it blows me away just how many people have positively responded to this Fic. Anyway, enough of the sob story. Enjoy.**

* * *

Qrow has made many choices; made many deals and traveled down many roads.

His most recent one may very well end up being his last.

The behemoth decorated in brass and glass was slowly standing up, bringing his full form to bear. Said form stood at a towering height of almost eight feet, and his earth shaking quarter-ton footsteps were doing just that. The eight portholes on his domed head were swiftly becoming a menacing red.

He would later admit that he damn near shit himself when the drill start whirring.

But he wasn't about to back down now.

"No need to get all uppity, Jaune." He said, his voice rasping from the copious amounts of alcohol he had been drinking earlier.

Alcohol he sorely missed now.

Nevertheless, the behemoth did cease its advance, but the drill kept making its slow, threatening rotations.

"Just gonna give you some advice is all, then I'll be out of your… well I was gonna say hair, but…" He trailed off, the last statement more to himself than the figure that would be at home in that shithole of a city proposed by Arc.

20,000 Leagues eat your heart out.

The Jaune fellow took another thundering step forward, scaring the night life of the forest silent. His shoulders rose and fell, his labored, metallic breathing echoing out with a low, rumbling groan to accompany it.

The girl whimpered from under his hand, which gave pause to big and ugly while also drawing Qrow's attention.

She had curled into the fetal position surrounding the stuffed bear, and her frame shivered from the nighttime cold.

A cold that threw him into earlier this very winter; snow crunching underfoot and dead, barren trees passing by from his mad dash to halt the progress of vicious creatures of darkness that encroached on his own two little girls. Luckily, and the irony wasn't lost on him, he made it on time.

Last time he was late, his little ones lost a mother.

So he wasn't surprised when he found himself unconsciously pulling off his cape and tucking the youngin' underneath, though the brass dome helping him halfway through did give him pause.

Its eyes had shifted from their red to a more mellow yellow- damnit Yang- as his massive hand frantically tucked her legs underneath the red garment. Of course, the drill stopped spinning as well, as he used it hold her legs still.

Qrow couldn't help but smile.

"She's tough, and I can tell her aura is both unlocked and very potent," The wizened huntsman began as they finished wrapping her in his cape, and Jaune's attention refocused on the stranger.

"But she's still a girl, one who will get chewed up and spit out by these woods." He stood up, dusting off both the front and the seat of his pants. Jaune too stood, though his gaze remained that neutral yellow.

"So head thataways," He suggested, pointing southwards towards Vale.

"It's where I'm headed, and where both of you can get some help, maybe even do something with your lives. I dunno, but what I do know is that no matter what you decide," He leaned down and picked up Reaper, his trusty weapon, and balanced it over his soldiers. "That is where you should go. It'd be good for her, at least."

With that he walked in the direction he pointed in, a smirk decorating his features as he did so.

* * *

Indignant rage burned as it coursed through J-4UN's veins, pulling and tugging in an effort to run the stranger down and through with a screaming drill. It filled him with the unholy desire to disembowel the red eyed man, and to strangle him with his own entrails.

J-4UN wanted justice for the crime of laying hands on his little sister.

Jaune, however, kept him at bay.

Jaune had sat himself down beside Violet once more, his left arm propping him up while his other was crossed over his torso. The sun was rising over the horizon, giving the entire forest an angelic mid-morning glow. Wildlife had begun to chatter, their talks carrying over the still air rather peacefully.

He did not care much at all for the effervescence of nature.

No, his mind was still caught on the vague words of the stranger, words that carried no small amount of truth.

No plan came to mind when called upon; no sudden revelations or epiphanies. Hell, even when escaping the facility, his concern was Violet and her immediate wellbeing, blatantly ignoring anything beyond that in favor of a successful escape.

If he could sigh, he would.

Instead, he settled for a low metallic groan, one matched by the rather cute yawn of Violet. His gaze trailed over to the young girl, who seemed to just realize the position she was in. She began to roll and squirm with a look of concentration covering her features.

Normally, he would find amusement in the adorableness of her trying to escape her makeshift blanket, but the fluctuating power behind her eyes left no room for it.

He swiftly went about undoing the blanket, making a high pitched groan low in volume in an effort to soothe her. Violet's brow was covered in perspiration, her hair matting her forehead and her breathing quick and labored, yet once the singing registered in her head, positive effects immediately began to come over her.

Her breathing evened, and her once frantic movements slowed to a crawl before stopping. He slowly undid the velvet cape, helping her up and into a sitting position. Her bear was snugly between her folded arms as her eyes once again settled into their normal azure color. She gave a tired grin and wiped the hair from her eyes.

"Morning Jaune." Violet spoke, her smile bright but tired. Jaune stood up and offered his hand. She accepted, and he lifted her up and onto his shoulders where she lay comfortably. After making sure she would not fall off of his spherical head-structure, he began to march in the direction the stranger pointed.

* * *

It was bound to happen eventually.

One does not travel through Grimm infested woods without encountering the very things infesting the forest, or someone that can profit off of it.

Luckily, or unluckily depending on your opinion, Jaune and Violet came in contact with the latter.

The trees had been slowly thinning throughout their walk, and they were in the midst of a heated game of I Spy. Birds and other wildlife had long since been silenced by his thundering footsteps, though neither of them paid it any mind. They had other things to worry about, of course.

"I spy with my little eye something… green!" Violet shouted, her hands covering her mouth as Jaune's own made up part of the thinking man's pose; with the knuckles tucked under his chin and the limb bent at the wrist. After a few minutes of Violet giggling and him "thinking," he held up his index finger in mock revelation.

Violet gasped as he slowly, but deliberately, moved his finger upwards until it pointed at the canopy above.

"Yes Jaune! You did it!" She shouted with glee. Her bubbly sounds of mirth and joy filled the air, planting a warm and fuzzy feeling in his chest. If he could smile, it would be brighter than the sun.

"Alright then, my turn."

A rather baritone voice abruptly cut off Violet, and Jaune's gaze shifted from the radioactive green they once were to the more neutral yellow as his attention focused on the figures further up the beaten path they were travelling. Said figures were dressed in leathers, with cloth masks covering their faces from the nose down. Their eyes glinted with malicious intent, and the one in the fore slicked back hazel brown hair.

They all bore the mark of a bird in mid flight.

"I spy with my little eye a girl who ain't got no right to be in this neck of the woods, and a man who likes to flaunt what he got." The man in front spoke, his voice the same rough and deep one that spoke before. His cronies chortled disgustingly, and Violet whimpered from her position atop his shoulders.

"Aw, did I scare the little princess? Listen, we'll treat you nice a fine once you're-" He never got to finish the sentence, and never would be able to utter another.

Jaune's vision had long since gone red from both rage and light, and now the blood of this disgusting excuse of a human being was flecked on his portholes. The other two now jumped back, more than a little surprised at the velocity in which he crossed the gap between them.

The corpse of the hazel haired one in the fore dropped at his feet, blood pouring from the massive hole in his torso.

J-4UN wasted no time, and once the obstruction to the functionality of his drill was ascertained, he shoulder charged and checked the one to his right. The bandit folded around his forearm and met a nearby tree with his back.

His cries of pain were drowned out by an almost animalistic roar emanating from J-4UN. The behemoth spun around to meet the third and final threat to Violet's safety, and much to his concern, he had his charge in a choke hold; forearm around her jugular and weapon to her temple.

"Shut up and listen man! Stop!" The target shouted, his voice was frantic and his eyes were bloodshot as they darted between J-4UN's many portholes and the whirring drill he had for a right hand. Nevertheless Jaune took another step forward.

"I said stop!" The bandit shouted, and Violet was squirming under his grip now. In order to protect Violet, he complied, though his drill still screamed its own threats.

"Good, good. Now you're gonna let me- us!" He cocked the hammer on the firearm to Violet's temple. "Us go, alright!"

J-4UN let out another threatening groan, but before he could do anything, Violet's eyes glowed with power, and before the bandit could recognize the shift in threat level, she procured a massive needle from the depths of her dress and plunged it deep into the depths of the man's chest, spearing his heart through in the process.

He fell to his knees, releasing Violet in the process who simple let the corpse slide off the syringe and onto its back. Finally she spun around and plunged it once more into its chest, humming a sickening tune all the while.

"Who watches over sleeping angels? I do, I do…" The lyrics faded into humming once more as she pulled back on the plunger, retrieving a swirling white substance from the depths of the corpse's chest cavity. Once she was finished, she dusted herself off and stood up, a dainty smile decorating her features and the full syringe resting against her shoulder.

He stayed still, resolutely so even in wake of the massive needle plunging into his back. Once fully injected, he felt rejuvenated. Fresh and now fully cognizant, he almost stumbled back in shock at the carnage surrounding him.

Jaune realized he had no time to rest though, and Violet could be coming to any second now. Once she was securely in her little basket and still humming that tune from earlier, he took off. His stride was as long as his lumbering frame could manage, and he was carefully weaving between the surrounding foliage.

"Ah, sorry Mistah. B, I'm tired." He almost tripped at the sound of Violet's voice, so focused was he on leaving quickly. He could not see it, but he felt her shift in her basket until she settled in.

"G'night Mistah B." He let out a low groan in response, and soon her soft snores filled the air. He slowed his pace and cast his gaze upwards, through the verdant canopy far above.

The sun shone through just as brightly as it had before.

* * *

The forest had long since darkened, even the stars hidden behind a blanket of clouds. Footsteps crunched on dead grass and gritty earth, the steel toed boots ignoring all floral opposition.

Eventually, a step of theirs made a much wetter noise upon making contact with the ground.

The owner of the appendage paused, slowly raising their foot slightly before firmly planting it. They took another tentative step and this time pressed into a much softer substance. The boot toed into it, and a slow, effeminate sigh bled into the night.

The soft click and hiss followed the exhalation from earlier, and the owner of the boots crouched beside the corpse strewn along the beaten path. They reached out a slender, calloused hand and brushed it over the top of the corpse's breast before ripping off a patch and shoving it in a bag of sorts.

They slowly stood up, shook their mane of ebon hair out and back, and donned their avian mask.

A swirling vortex of red later, and they were gone.


	4. Chapter 4

Doors posed a unique problem for our friendly giant.

The ones he was accustomed to were large; built for moving large equipment, machinery, and allowing him access to the facility. The were wide, metal, and overall convenient.

The dinky wooden one that came up to his shoulders was none of those things.

It stood crooked, with pockmarks and small holes decorating the deteriorating, dull brown wood. It flaked at parts, and Jaune had to keep Violet from actually touching it, lest she be ailed with splinters.

The sign above had mostly faded, barring the recently repainted declaration of the building's purpose: an inn. The rest of the town was in similar shape; with dull faded colors, splintering wood, and cracked pavement to tread upon.

The people reflected the town well, with cracked soles, dull eyes, and shuffling paces.

"I don't like it here, Jaune. It's so… sad." Indeed Violet had a point; the entire town seemed to be in a state of constant melancholy. The people slouched, moaned and groaned, and there seemed to be a general sense of apathy perfusing every aspect of the small settlement.

Still, Violet needed clothes. A two-weeks trek through untamed wilds does not bode well for unsuited clothing, such as his charge's yellow sundress. It had begun to fade into a pallid mockery of what it once was, and tears had begun to form along its hem.

Not only did he have to worry about the state of her dress, but he must also begin preparations for her inevitable growth. Preparations that include, but are not limited to: larger clothes, more nutritious food, and the removal of the cage on his back.

She was growing to big for it as is, and he did not want to cause her problems in the future due to sleeping in a cramped environment.

So they arrived here, in some nameless town, at a nameless inn, in the middle of nowhere.

"Do we have to stay, Jaune?" Violet's soft voice drew his attention, and his gaze fell upon the form of the young girl partially hidden behind his massive frame, her posture full of trepidation and worry.

"I… I don't like it here. Nuh uh." She playfully stuck out her tongue, but it belied her true nervousness.

As much as it tugged on his heartstrings to do so, the threat of not finding another town in time for her was enough for him to put his foot down. So he nodded, much to her consternation, of course. Nevertheless, she was not vocal about it, and thus he rapped a large, brass knuckle atop the old wooden door.

It swung inwards on squealing hinges, and out appeared a girl who could not have been much older than Violet, with straight raven hair and a single streak of pink in her bangs helping to better frame her fair-skinned face with a pair of magenta eyes set above them. She wore a green button-down shirt with long, verdant sleeves and a pair of green slacks that tapered around the ankles.

Her light colored eyes gleamed with suppressed curiosity, and her lips were thinned. Her gaze fell from Jaune and onto the form of Violet, and her eyes widened slightly in surprise at the sight of the young blonde, who returned the look from her position behind his leg.

The newcomer shook their head and their features shifted into a neutral one. She opened her mouth to address the duo, but was interrupted by a clap of thunder emanating from a building in the center of town. He spun on his heel, placing himself between the girls and the source of sound.

It turned out to be a restaurant, its shingled roof smoking and the chimney puffing away. The glass had shattered, and soon another young girl quite literally blew through the doors of the establishment and through its swinging doors. She, once again, seemed to be no older than Violet herself, with a head of short orange hair and a grin that threatened to split their head in twain decorating fair skin. Their white blouse and pink skirt were marred by soot and a small amount of ash.

Before anyone had much a chance to do anything, she dashed from her position on the floor and behind the behemoth with both Violet and the girl at the door. Not a moment too soon either, as a large man with two small ursine ears sitting atop a nest of ruddy brown hair stormed out the same doors the redhead blew through. His eyes were wide and bloodshot, and an apron fluttered behind him as he raised a rolling pin into the air and waved it to and fro.

"Nora Valkyrie!" He shouted, his deep, baritone voice carrying through the still air like a fog horn. The redhead, who Jaune could only assume to be Nora, giggled from her spot beside the exasperated gal in green as the- no pun intended- bear of a man stormed towards both the girls and Jaune.

Violet whimpered.

J-4UN saw red.

The man was panting, more from fury than exhaustion, and raised the baking instrument once more as if to strike the girl behind Jaune.

Who he failed to notice until a massive hand wrapped around his forearm, and his eyes widened significantly as the looked up towards Jaune's eight portholes, which glowed a terrifying red. The large man began to quake with fear, struggling to wrench his arm free of the vice grip ensnaring it. J-4UN's grip tightened, and he began to pull on the offending appendage.

"Jaune…"

The red tint faded from his vision as his gaze fell towards Violet, behind whom cowered the other two girls as they gazed upon him with fearful eyes.

"That's enough. You're scaring me and my new friends." Jaune's form stiffened, and he cast his gaze over his surroundings. People had stopped to stare at the scene unfolding before them, and others had simply fled the area.

Jaune's shoulders fell, and he released the man and dropped him to the floor. He scrambled backwards from the brass behemoth before sprinting back to the still smoking restaurant he had left behind.

Violet grabbed onto one of his fingers, and with a somber smile, began to guide him towards and through the gates from which they came.

* * *

Lie Ren was a boy wrought with complexities. He was orphaned naught but a few years ago, his best and only friend had been so longer, and he appeared rather femine aesthetically. He was accustomed to fear, and the negative effects it could have on entire villages.

Kuroyuri being a prime example.

Still, he couldn't help but pity the behemoth leaving town and the girl who led it. It seemed to want nothing more than to protect him, Nora, and the other girl with his very being, and yet he was ostracized for it due to his admittedly intimidating appearance.

He looked to Nora, who reached the same conclusion if her contemplative look was anything to go by, and nodded in time with her.

Together they left the town, following the forms of the girl and the giant.

* * *

Night had fallen once more, casting the world in darkness broken only by the light of the shattered moon and the countless stars twinkling like broken glass. Jaune was seated next to a sill crackling fire, with Violet tossing a smooth stone upwards and subsequently catching it with a look of concentration decorating her features as she lie with her head propped against Jaune's thigh.

Suddenly there came a rustling from east part of their "encampment," and Jaune's portholes shifted from the soft green to a much more menacing yellow. He did not move from his position though, even as Violet stood with her arm cocked back and ready to pitch the rock she held.

She had no need to worry, as through the brush line came crashing the form of Nora and the girl in green. Tension visibly left Violet's form as she dropped her rock and a smile came over her features.

"Sorry to intrude," The girl in green spoke, her voice slightly deeper than Violet's own but still rather effeminate. "But we need a place to stay for the night. Mind if we do so here?"

Nora was shaking in her spot, but the wide grin on her face made it clear it was from excitement rather than fear. Violet looked to Jaune, and his gaze flickered between both parties.

Finally, he nodded towards Violet.

She squealed in excitement, and she and Nora met halfway across the clearing in a tight embrace while the verdant girl simply sighed.

"I am Lie Ren, and this is Nora Valkyrie. Thank you for having us." She bowed, and Nora giggled before she was suddenly scaling Jaune's frame, dangling her head in front of one of his many, now green, portholes, the wide smile never having left her face. Her teal eyes were filled with mirth, but also a hint of trepidation.

And so, he held out a finger towards the young girl, and gently nudged her sighed, eliciting a laugh from the redhead. The trepidation left her eyes as she collapsed into laughter, and Jaune was satisfied.

Things were looking better now.

"You're a boy!"


End file.
